Golden Times
by KirikaAndo
Summary: She felt abandoned before 2011. Until hopes of a family changed her life. (i suck at summaries, OC, slow updates) HIATUS SINCE AUTHOR IS RESEARCHING THE TIMELINE AFTER CONFUSION FROM SPIDER MAN HOMECOMING (damn it)
1. 1: My New Home

2011

A young girl carries her luggage as she walked through the immigration gate. After 9 years she is finally back again.

Abandoned at 3 years old, her mother left her by dying mysteriously. Her father... he doesn't want her. After that, she was shipped out of the country to the UK.

Living in a dorm has its quirks. she learnt to be independent of herself. How to iron, how to wash, how to this and how to that. Except cooking. Somehow she always burns her cooking. She herself don't know why.

As the years gone by she watched as her friends come and go. Their families came and got them out of the school. She haven't got anybody to pick her up.

Like right now, a man wearing black sunglasses and a black suit was holding a paper, with the writing:

 ** _Hailey J. S._**

Figures, her own dad doesn't want her to wield the surname.

As she approached the man, she thanked the security guard that has been accompanying her all the way. Since she was practically still a child. Who had flown from England all the way to California.

The change in weather doesn't help too.

What if her dad doesn't like her? She doesn't care. she hates him anyways.

But what if... he apologizes? ...Maybe she will consider forgiving. But forgetting will be tough. She's always been easy to forgive someone. But in the end, she always resents.

The man in the sunglasses noticed a young girl walking to him. As she stood in front of him, he asked, "Are you Hailey Josephine?"

"Yes, I am." She said with an accent.

The man offered to take her luggage. "Come with me, we will see your father at home. I'm Happy Hogan, but you can call me Happy." He smiled.

"Thank you." and she followed him to the car.

She got in the back seat and waited for Happy to finish putting her luggage on the trunk. He then went to the driver's seat.

As they drove from the airport, She suddenly asked, "Is Tony nice?"(

"He's nicer than before." Happy answered.

After seeing the new superhero in television back in 2008, continued by a press with him admitting that he is Iron Man, Hailey's grudge for Tony Stark got even bigger.

Leaving her for years to mend of her own. She once thought that the cruel man that took Iron Man's mantle was not her dad. They don't look alike, in any way, except their brown hair. But hers was darker. Auburn. She concluded that she got the rest of her looks from her mum.

Yes, mum. The effect of living in England from her childhood. Her loving Mum who had died mysteriously back in 2004. A sandy-haired shady guy wearing sunglasses came to their house to give mum's will. She never saw him again afterwards.

Her mom left her a letter, some money, a necklace, a locked journal and a safe deposit box. She kept them in a box for memorabilia.

The necklace took shape of a diamond. It wasn't transparent, and it was baby-blue colored. Probably a fake? But she kept it on her anyways.

She opened the letter when she was 8. She read better then. The shady man warned her not to tell anybody about the encounter. She was watching TV at the living room at her dorm of Tony's press conference.

Her eyes widened as she read,

" ** _Tony Stark is your father,_** "

in neat, cursive lines.

Just as the tv sound,

 _"I am Iron Man."_

All of her questions were mostly answered.

Who is her dad? Tony Stark.

How did her life funds pay? Tony Stark.

Why am I shipped to the UK? Tony Stark.

Why did mom die? Still no answer.

A while later they arrive at a large mansion in Malibu.

"We're here!" Happy stopped the car and helped Hayley open the door.

"Home sweet home." he stated.

"Hopefully if I survive in this hell hole," she mumbled.

Happy carried her luggage and strode inside. Hayley followed behind him. As they came in, a woman greeted them.

"Hello, you must be Hailey!" the strawberry-blonde greeted.

"Yes, and you must be--" she recollected her memories of recent interviews of Stark Industries's new CEO.

"Pepper Potts, you can call me Pepper." She smiled and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Hayley Kirk." Hayley smiled. The smile doesn't reach her eyes. Kirk was her mother's surname, and her surname for her whole life.

Pepper raised an eyebrow.

"Your surname is gonna be Stark from now on." a voice interrupted their introduction.

a man with a goatee showed up, coming from who knows where.

"Tony Stark. Genius, Billionare, Philantropist." He introduced himself.

Tony Stark. The root of her pent up grudge.

"You." She pointed to him. "I hate you." she declared.

Pepper was amused.

Happy wanted nowhere to be here (in the middle of the banter), so he offered himself a task of moving Hayley's luggage.

"Look kid, I had known you exsist when your mother died, and I did not know that she was having you." Tony defended himself.

"Were were you, all of my childhood years!? you basically shipped me off to England!?" she raised her voice and shouted.

"I, was a hot mess, back then. Getting drunk, partying every night, neglecting duties, hooking up with girls, until Afghanistan." Tony stated.

Afghanistan. The news back in 2008 told that Tony Stark was held captive by the Ten Rings for three months. Hence Iron Man was born.

"That's no reason to ignore me for the next two years!"

"I am sorry, kid. I just wasn't ready to handle a kid yet. I payed for your school fees, and Pepper here thought it wasn't enough." And Pepper nodded.

"You need to be with her, Tony. She's your daughter!" Pepper argued.

"Finally, after much much fighting--" Pepper coughed, "discussing, We concluded that you are to be here, with me. As your legal guardian and father." Tony explained.

"Too late," she fumed.

"Pepper, can I get to my room please?"

"Sure, Uh, Ok. Follow me." and Pepper with Hayley on her tow climbed up the stairs into her room.

"JARVIS!"

 _"Mr. Stark. What can I do for you?"_ The robotic AI answered.

Tony contemplated something for a while. then retracted his thoughts and decided that its better to do it later, when she's all right.

"Let's get back to the suits," and he walked to the basement.

 ** _140617_**


	2. 2: Tony and Me

After a week of silence between Hailey and Tony, Pepper can't take it anymore.

She knocked on Hailey's door. Hailey has only been in her room and the kitchen, were she takes her food only on midnights. JARVIS has been keeping watch.

"Hailey, honey. It's Pepper. Can I come in?" She asked.

With a whir, the door's locks opened.

Pepper raised an eyebrow. She took it as an OK.

"Hailey, Hey--" She was cut off by a flying disc.

"Whoa!" Pepper's head almost got chopped off.

"Sorry! It's my new project that I've been working on. It's supposed to come back to me like a boomerang." Hailey explained.

"Impressive," Pepper approved.

"I just have to figure some things out." she mumbled as she took the fallen disk and returned to her desk.

"Where did you get all of these stuff?" Pepper asked.

"Oh, these are scraps that I found back in England. Old parts you can say. I have also been saving my mysterious allowance." She stated.

"You are your father's daughter, alright."

Hailey stopped working.

"I am not approving that man as my father." She stated.

Pepper sighed.

"Hailey, honey. I know you had a rough time without parents. Tony has gone through it too. They died when he was 21. His father was too work consumed and wasn't always there.

Tony felt that his father neglected him too. So he started rebelling." Pepper explained.

"But that is not my story to tell, it's his. You both need to talk it out." Pepper said.

"...Okay.." Hayley sighed.

"As soon as possible! Tony doesn't have an experience as a dad. His own dad doesn't do much." Pepper demanded.

"...Just tell him to come by when he's ready too." Hailey thought after a moment.

"OK. I will." With that, Pepper left her room.

Hayley sighed. She stood up from her desk and went to the bathroom to wash her face.

She went back to her desk. She cleaned a part of the desk, and took out a box. She bought the box in London, last Christmas. The box has little carvings thay Hailey liked. It was medium sized.

Inside the box was a letter that her mom gave her. Another one of the things inside the box was a locked journal. She didn't try to open the journal without a key, afraid of braking it.

Some photos of her and her mom was neatly stacked. Her first birthday, Her first tooth lost, all of their memories until she was four.

Her mom was beautiful. She had auburn hair like hers. Her eyes were bluer too. She remembered her mom's hugs when she came home from work.

Her mom never told her what her work was. Sometimes she was away for weeks, the longest had been a month. When she asked, her mom simply replied:

 **" _I do labor work, sweetie!"_** with a sweet smile.

She took out a framed photo from the box. Her mom didn't give it to her, but she took it from the top of her mom's desk. It was a photo of them in their little house.

She put the photo back in the box and took out a key. She tied the key in a chain so it wont get lost. The key was too big for the journal, so she ruled it out.

Seeing her mom again hurts. Even though it's in pictures. She misses her mom. Forever and always.

 **oOoOoOo**

A knock on Hailey's door was heard, 5 hours later.

"Hailey, I'm coming in."

"Wait a second!" and she opened the automatic scrap lock. The door opened revealing the one and only Tony Stark.

"Nice locks." Tony complimented.

Hailey stopped tinkering with her project. It has been 5 hours and she haven't fixed the problem for the boomerang.

Tony, noticing her distraction, looked around the room. He and Pepper had been arguing for the room decorations. Will she like pink? Too girly. Blue? Too boyish. So beige had been colored for her room. Pepper concluded rather than arguing, they should let Hayley decide later.

"So, how's the room?" Tony started to make a conversation, breaking the ice.

"It's ok." Hailey responded.

Then silence soon followed. Tony looked around and saw a cardboard box on his right. it was full of sharp holes.

"What is this cardboard for?" He asked.

"For this," and a sudden sharp sound was heard on his right. Her boomerang prototype pierced the cardboard.

Tony raised an eyebrow and took off the boomerang.

"I didn't want to damage your wall. This thing is supposed to be rebounding back. But I can't seem to make it right." She mumbled.

"Nice technology. Where did you get it from?"

"I made it myself. Out of scraps!" Hailey said proudly.

Tony smiled. "You look like your mother, but you have my brains. Why don't you come with me to the basement. I'll help you fix this thing to make it up and running. Wait, we'll make it even better!" Not taking no for an answer, Tony turned around and started heading for the basement, holding the prototype. Hayley followed behind with a sigh.

"JARVIS, scan this thing for me."

 _"Yes, Mr. Stark."_

At the sound of the robotic AI, Hayley flinched.

"Who is that?" Hayley asked curiously.

"You're a curious kid. That's my AI. JARVIS," Tony introduced.

"This is Hayley. Hayley, JARVIS." The prototype's scan finally showed on a hologram.

" _Nice to meet you, Miss Stark_."

"Um.. You too?" Hayley said unsurely.

"C'mon kid. Let's get started." Tony motioned her to come closer.

"You have an AI? So cool!" she whispered to Tony.

"I don't only have an AI. I have a lot of things! like my car collection over there," He boasted and motioned to the cars.

"Vintage, nice!" she wowed.

"And this robot here. Meet DUM-E. I made him in MIT." He patted the passing robot.

"MIT!?" her eyes were wide.

"Cool! I would like to go there one day." she sighed.

Tony noticed her sigh. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I don't have the confidence. What if I'm not smart enough to go there?" She sighed and sat down.

Tony came around her and patted her back.

"I'm sure you'll get in! Heck, you're smarter than any eleven-year-old I know." He encouraged.

"Thanks for the encouragement, but I think I'm the only eleven-year-old you know." She chuckled.

"Now there's that smile!" He snapped his hands.

"Ok, ok, I get it!" She laughed.

"Let's get working, shall we?" Tony offered.

As they were working, Hailey slowly watched as the man that is now her dad work. He has a certain charisma for this kind of stuff. Tony noticed her staring.

"What? I didn't graduate out of MIT for nothing," He boasted.

Hayley had an urge to ask something. "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot," He drank.

"How are your parents like?" Unprepared, Tony almost spit out his drink. He coughed.

"Sorry. Touchy subject?" She apologized.

"No, caught me of guard. Since you asked, I'll tell it to you anyway. Since you are my daughter and all," So Tony started the story where Howard Stark met Maria and got married and had him. Howard was obsessed in finding Captain America so Tony felt neglected and came to his mother instead.

Hayley felt bad for Tony, in a way. She felt that his heart is slowly opening up to her. Maybe she should open up her heart too?

After finishing Tony's story, Hayley hugged him. Tony was shocked.

"I still hate you, but I'll try." she confessed. Tony had a little smile on his face and patted her back.

"Thank you, kiddo." and cue Hayley's stomach rumble.

"Let's go get pizza. It's dinner time anyways." and they walked upstairs for dinner.

"But what about the boomerang-bracelet?" She asked.

"We still have a lot of time in the world? C'mon let's eat!"

As she followed Tony up, she remembered when Tony said, " _We'll make it even better!"_ Instead of " _I",_ He's giving be the opportunity for us to work together.

Hailey softened at the thought. Maybe he's not so bad of a dad.

 ** _150617_**


	3. 3: My Family

"Dad! be careful."

"Oops, thank you for the warning kiddo." Pepper watched as the father and daughter bond over engineering in the basement.

6 months pass and they got closer than ever. She eventually lost her accent.

Hayley's eyes were sparkling more than the first time she met her. She smiled often too, and laughed heartily at Tony's jokes.

She went upstairs to check on the food that she had been preparing for the family dinner.

A door bell was heard and a man wearing a suit came in.

"Rhodey! How great to see you again" Pepper hugged the man.

" I surely won't skip family dinner. Where's that goddaughter of mine?" He asked.

"They're in the basement, as always." Pepper chuckled.

"How is it that she doesn't go to public school, but still got the brains?" Rhodey sighed.

"She's Tony's daughter alright, and JARVIS had been her all-knowing teacher." They both laughed.

"JARVIS, please call both of them up. It's dinner time already." Pepper called to the AI.

They walked to the dining room where Pepper cooked food, served hot on the table. A bickering sound was heard a few moments later.

"Dad! Don't smear me in oil!" Hayley whined.

Rhodey and Pepper laughed.

"Hey little soldier!" Rhodey greeted with a salute.

"Uncle Rhodey!" Hayley was ecstastic seeing her godfather. She ran to him and saluted him.

"You've grown since I've last seen you, Hales!" Rhodey praised.

"Of course! I have been eating healthily and exercising daily!" Hayley boasted. The auburn-haired girl was more livelier too, comparing to the first time she came to live in Malibu.

Rhodey smiled. The girl had really grown since they first met. He still remembers it as clear as day...

"What is this 'adopted daughter' issue that I've just heard of?" Rhodey raised his voice.

 **oOoOoOo**

"Shh. The little princess is sleeping. Keep it down." Tony shushed. They were in the basement. Tony, as usual was working on his new suits. Rhodey just got back from a 2 month long mission.

"Tony. I got back from my mission and headed _straight_ here, when I should've been in my _own_ home. I want, no, scratch that. I _demand_ an explanation!" Rhodey was shocked to hear the news. It had been a month since said girl lived in Tony's care. And from the looks of it, Tony already got attached.

"Long story short, Pepper found out I had a daughter, we argued, she lives here." Tony explained while tinkering with his new project.

Rhodey noticed the size of the suit. "...You're building a suit for your daughter?"

"Yes. You never know how many would want her to be held at ransom. Better safe than sorry." Tony sighed.

Rhodey examined his friend. "I had never expected you to care for your daughter that much, Tony." _Considering you are someone who gets attached to something very deeply._

Tony shrugged.

"JARVIS, turn on the boosters for me." Tony instructed. And the boosters was on.

"Alright, try to make it family-friendly. I don't want to get Hales hurt by something like this."

" _Yes, Mr. Stark."_ the robotic voice answered.

As Tony did a test drive, Rhodey just watched. Then the suit crashed. There was a loud bang that followed.

"Shit!" Tony cursed. "DUM-E, clean that up."

He snatched the towel from DUM-E and wiped his sweat.

"I promise I'll introduce you to her. Just go home and--"

"Dad!!! Are you okay!?" Tony was cut off by Hailey's frantic call for her dad.

"--go home." Tony finished his sentence. "Well she's here now! Why are you awake at midnight, Hales?" Tony turned around and Hailey was going down the stairs.

"Um... I was gonna get some milk and I heard a loud bang!" She scratched her cheek.

"Only milk?" Tony raised his eyebrows. "Um, cookies too." She answered sheepishly.

"What did I say about cookies before bed, Hales? You'll get sugar rush!" Tony scolded.

"I was hungry... Who's this man?" Hailey asked, avoiding Tony's glare.

"This, is Rhodey." Tony groaned and introduced his best friend.

Hailey observed him up and down. He was wearing a suit.

"Nice too meet you, I'm Hailey Stark." She offered a hand.

"I'm James Rhodes, but Tony here calls me Rhodey. A pleasure to meet you too." He smiled and shook her hand.

"Are you in the army? You have a cool suit!" She praised.

"I'm in the Air Force, and I just got discharged from my last mission." He responded.

"Woah! do you get to fly planes and jets?!" Her eyes twinkled.

"Yes, but--"

"Alright, sweetie, It's time for bed. Nothing to see here. I have a few things to discuss with Rhodey here, now up you go!" Tony scolded.

"Okay..." She bid both of them goodbyes and went up.

When she was out of earshot, Rhodey turned to Tony.

"Didn't you say you hate children?"

Tony gasped. "I did, but that was pre-Iron Man. I'm making up my sins." He shrugged.

Rhodey smiled. "I guess that she had warmed her way to your heart. Did she resent you?"

"Yes, at first. But we bonded and she understood my condition. She forgives people easily."

"Smart," Rhodey praised. "Just like her father."

Suddenly Tony's head snapped to the supposed to be locked glass door near the stairs.

"JARVIS! Didn't I tell you to lock the doors!?" Tony panicked.

 _"Yes, Mr. Stark. It seems that Miss Hailey had overridden the lock."_ the AI answered.

"Damn. She's too smart for her own good." Tony cursed.

"Indeed she is." Rhodey smiled.

"Thank god she didn't notice the suit. It was gonna be a surprise for her!"

 **oOoOoOo**

Dinner was served. The little family were having fun. Hailey had been telling stories about the lab incidents. That one time Tony almost burnt his eyebrows, That one time when DUM-E was almost broken because of a flying disk, and many more.

Hailey was happy that the family is getting bigger little by little, with Tony as her dad, Pepper as her mom, abd Rhodey as her uncle.

 _'Life is good,'_ she thought. ' _I hope this will last forever.'_ she smiled.

 ** _160617_**


	4. 4: Babysitting

"Hailey, Honey. We are going to New York to do follow up's on the new Stark Tower. Behave when we go, OK?" Pepper crouched to Hailey's height and patted her head.

Hailey nodded. "Will I be alone?" She silently cheered in victory. She can eat sweets at night!

"Well, you have JARVIS." Pepper answered. She can already see the gears turning in Hailey's mind.

"No. You are not going to set the kitchen on fire again!" Tony scolded.

"Hey! That was one time!" she argued.

"You wanted to drink hot milk so you heated the milk on the stove. You, who had never cooked before, almost set the house on fire!" Tony accused.

"I have JARVIS! He'll instruct me what to do." She whined.

"We'll be going for two to three weeks. We won't leave you here alone with JARVIS. We found you a babysitter!" Pepper squealed.

"Ohmygod, I'm almost a teen!" She whined again. "In two years!" Tony countered. She pouted.

"So, who'll be the honors of child-sitting? Happy?" She asked.

"No, Happy's coming with us. And he'll run _important_ errands so he wont have time guarding you." Pepper answered.

"So who is it?" Hailey sighed. Just then, a bell was heard and at the confirmation of JARVIS, she came in.

"Pepper! long time no see!" The woman hugged the strawberry-blonde.

"Natalie!" She hugged back. As they broke the hug, Tony rolled his eyes.

"Hailey, This is Natalie Rushman. She used to be my secretary until she ' _moved_ '. She'll be in town in two weeks to she'll be your baby sitter." Tony explained.

Said Natalie raised an eyebrow. "Don't you two have a flight to catch?" She asked.

"Oh please. I own the private jet." Tony bragged. Pepper just shushed him.

"Okay, good bye Hales. Take care." With kisses to the forehead, Pepper went to Hailey.

As Pepper was saying good bye to Hailey, Tony motioned for Natalie to the side.

"One scratch on my kid and you'll lost my trust for good. Not like you had any, since last time." Tony whispered and patted Natalie's shoulders. She rolled her eyes. Tony and Pepper left after.

"Nice to meet you, Natalie. I will be in the basement If you need me." With that, Hailey left to the basement.

Natalie was reminded of her old friend, a woman with blue eyes and auburn hair. The child looked a lot like the said woman. She smiled sadly.

"Dang it! why does this boomerang keep going out of the circle!?" Hailey was doing target practice with her broocelets. Boomerang-Bracelets! A genius she is, A genius in names she wasn't.

An amused chuckle was heard by the door. "You are doing it all wrong, Little Stark." Natalie chuckled. Then she strode next to Hailey.

"What do you know about targets?" Hailey raised an eyebrow.

"I know everything." She answered. "Here, let me try." Natalie took the offered broocelets (she didn't even question the name when she got them.) and adjusted her position.

She leaned her body sideways. She held her arm, and with a flick of the wrist the boomerang flew and hit the center of the target.

Hailey was wide eyed. "You have got to teach me that!"

After hours of target practice Natalie excused herself to go to the kitchen and make dinner. Hailey's aim had gotten better and the boomerang started hitting the center. She had heard about the little kitchen mishap from Pepper, and decided that she will cook.

Hailey, the curious girl as she is, followed Natalie up like a little duckling. Hailey had asked, no, begged for Natalie to teach her cooking. When she asked why, she said that she wanted to surprise her dad with delicious cooking while scratching her cheek. Natalie noticed the motion, and shrugged it off.

She teached her anyways. Hailey was a fast learner.

 **oOoOoOo**

The next night Natalie found Hailey sneaking in the kitchen. Not so subtle. She had been reading a magazine when she heard scruffing noises from the kitchen.

She slowly came to the kitchen with a gun in tow, just to see the fridge opened and lowered her gun and tucked in in the back of her pants.

She leaned on the other side of the opened fridge door and waited for Hailey to be done at what she have been doing. As slowly Hailey closed the door with a satisfied sigh, she was greeted with an amused face of the red haired woman.

"Hello. Is this your 'sugar rush'?" Natalie asked. Her arms were crossed.

" _Dad."_ Hailey mumbled. She then explained everything and went back to the basement. JARVIS was going to tattle on her, but she shut down the AI for the night. Not a safe choice, but she didn't want to be ratted out. Natalie just shrugged.

 **oOoOoOoo**

Four days had passed and Hailey had been sneaky enough to go to the basement every midnight. Natalie confronted the child on said day and complimented her for sneaking off, getting cookies and milk along the way.

After the ' _Busted Sugar Rush Incident, Two'_ (The first one was with Tony), she got stealthier and barely made a noise in the kitchen. Natalie just went off if the sound was too loud for her liking.

As Natalie babysat Hailey, she thought about subtle ways of training the kid. Being the child of the billionare needs protection. And knowing Tony, he will probably make her a suit.

But suits aren't enough. She needs lessons in first aid and self defence. Who knows when will she be hurt? She will need first aid!

Natalie noticed her own thoughts. She sighed when she noticed that she got attached to the girl. Even for only four days! She looked like her old friend. But her old friend isn't British. She caught on the little accent. Maybe she'll do some background check later?

She got to the basement and strode into the mini-lab of Hailey Stark. She sneaked up behind her.

"A card gun? So that's why you asked me to go to the departement store." They went a day ago and Hailey had bought all of the available card decks, some sweets and other stuff.

"God! You scared me, Natalie." Hailey held a hand to her chest, calming her beating heart.

"I am usually not scared of being surprised, but you- you don't even make a sound!" Her gaze lingered on Natalie.

"Please teach me!"

And with that, the two and a halfeeks of babysitting for Natalie ended.

Haileh learned how to aim, how to cook, How to exercise _correctly_ , The Importance of Eating Healthily, Self Defence, First Aid, and shooting.

Her card gun was finished at the ninth day of babysitting, and she had asked Natalie to teach her shooting, if she can.

And Natalie, being the perfect woman she is, helped Hailey.

She teached Hailey effective ways to disarm someone with a knife, gun, tools that would harm her. the first two days got her body aching. But Hailey soon got the tempo and adrenaline rush, and she was hyper on sugar the whole week.

Let's say that Hailey is starting to be like a mini-Natalie.

Natalie thaught her stealth too. So she wont be discovered when she sneaks into the kitchen at midnight.

She learnt how to hack. JARVIS had been the unlucky domain of their test run.

Hailey silently praised herself for surviving the ' _Two Weeks of Torture feat. Natalie Rushman'._ Her time always counts so she didn't have the time to search her.

On the contrary, Natalie founded basic information about Hailey in JARVIS's database. So she is that woman's daughter... And had a sad smile on her face when she found out.

Hailey's cooking was nice. At least it didn't burn, like her cookies when Natalie thaught her baking.

Hailey reasoned that in cooking, " _You just need to add this, add that, and do it as your taste"_ while baking was " _Measure this, Measure that, BOOM! Burnt Cookie."._

The eleventh day the Cookie Incident happened, The fire alarm rang and water was everywhere. They had to clean the house for the whole day.

The card gun turned out to be like a gun, but with Card ammunitions. Natalie had told her to learn the art of card-throwing to better understand it.

 **oOoOoOoOo**

Finally, Tony and Pepper got home.

"How was babysitting?" Pepper whispered as she watched Tony hug Hailey.

"She's a nice student." Natalie praised. After that, they bid good byes and Natalie was never heard again.

Three days later, Tony was passing by the kitchen at lunch and almost choked on his juice seeing Hailey cooking.

Hailey convinced that she was a good cook, and told him to wait on the dining table whild she cooked a mini-lunch-snack.

Tony sweated nervously.

He waited for 15 minutes until Hailey came by while holding a plate of delicious smelling chicken wings.

Tony was amazed that she didn't burn the whole kitchen, and dug in. He was surprised at the taste. He did not expect that it will taste so deliciously!

"This is delicious!" He praised, Hailey beamed.

"Thank you. I learned from the best." She smiled.

"And who might that be?" He asked, having a rough idea of it being a certain red headed woman.

"It's a secret." She laughed.

"Having secrets now, are we?" Tony glared.

"Well, a secret makes a woman, woman." Hailey smirked.

"Where did you get that from? You're still a child anyways!"

"Oh, a detective film. It was nice learning another language while waiting for new subtitles. Like, _Urusai, Baka,_ and many more." She smirked.

As they finished Hailey went back to her room to take a short nap.

"What does _Ur-_ uhh...- _Sai_ and _Baka_ mean, JARVIS?" Tony asked the AI.

 _"It seems that_ Urusai _means 'Shut Up', while_ Baka _means 'Stupid', Mr. Stark."_ the AI responded.

"Where did she learn those from?" He scowled.

 _"She was watching some Japanese mystery film on the tenth day of Ms. Natalie's babysitting. I believe it was called 'Detective Conan' where the main character solves mysterious murders. I have been monitoring her watching it, and I can say she has a knack or intuition to find who the culprit is. I believe she was bored and found an entertainment that suits her taste,"_ JARVIS explained.

"...That girl is too smart for her own good."


	5. 5: The Battle of New York, pt 1

**_Stark Tower,_** ** _New York, 2012_**

"Are you fighting or flirting?" Hailey laughed as she finished using the toilet.

"What took you so long?" Tony asked. He was pouring a drink for himself and Pepper.

"Um, I don't want to disturb the mood?" She motioned to both of them. Tony smirked while Pepper chuckled.

 _"Sir, the telephone."_ JARVIS's voice was heard. _"I'm afraid my protocols are being overridden."_ He continued.

Hailey rolled her eyes, leave it out to her dad to leave duties. She went to the bar and took a glass. Pepper looked at her while Tony was babbling to the person looking for him. It went along the lines of _'The Life Model Decoy, of Tony Stark'._

Pepper almost scolded her when she almost poured the champagne. She chuckled and said she was joking, and went to the fridge to get some milk instead. Those are delicious.

 _"This is urgent."_

"Then leave urgently," Tony responded.

The elevator door suddenly opened and out revealed a man wearing a suit. Hailey almost spat on her drink.

"Security breach," the billionare said.

Pepper greeted the man with "Phil!" while Tony responded, "Phil? His first name is Agent!" hurriedly.

"Agent?" Hailey whispered.

They were discussing something important and Hailey caught the Agent's eye.

"Oh, sorry. Don't mind me here! Just an assistant drinking milk.. and.. gonna go to the toilet." She said awkwardly and drank all of her milk. She strode to the toilet right after.

"Who's that?" Coulson asked.

"Oh, Josie. My intern." Tony answered.

"Your intern is eleven?" Coulson raised an eyebrow.

"She's turning twelve next month." Tony snapped. "Back to the point."

 **oOoOoOoOo**

Hailey took a peek of the adults. Just as Pepper was kissing Tony,

"Awe, gross!" she coughed. Tony almost turned to her and rolled his eyes.

She held the cough that was coming and peeked.

 _"The Avengers Initiative?"_

 **oOoOoOoOo**

"Where are you going?" Hailey appeared with more tools. Tony was putting on his Iron Man suit. She walked to the coffee table that was full of her stuff.

"Uh, Germany?" His semi-robotic voice answered. He then turned to Hailey. "Aren't you supposed to be in DC with Pepper?" He crossed his arms.

"Um, no? I want to be here. Gotta work on this," She motioned to her bracelets. The broocelets. Boomerang... bracelets. She has two now.

She improved the little protection gadget (with the help of Tony) and secretly inserted mini explosives. Tony doesn't approve.

"And this too!" she motioned to the no-shape scratch.

"What's that?" He came over to the table. Scattered blueprints and metal.

"A... Hoverboard?" She said unsurely, and scratched her head. "It's gonna fly, like the Iron Man suit. And I'm thinking of using either solar power _or_ the arc ractor as energies! Wait, why not _both?_ That's a great idea!" She cheered excitedly.

"Great." Tony sighed. Hailey noticed the motion.

"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

"Do you know why I told you to introduce yourself with the name Josie Kirk?" He asked.

"...I'm assuming safety issues?" She concluded. Tony opened the helmet.

"Yes, and it's for your own good." He took her pen and circled an area in the blueprints. "That wont work. Change the shape or thin it down." He corrected.

"Gee, thank you for the guidance. I'm still sketching it ya'know." She took a blueberry from a bowl in the coffee table.

"Look. I don't trust the agents." He started. "Phil? he seems nice." she cut off.

"Will you listen first then conclude? Sheesh." He flicked her forehead. "He's from SHIELD. Some kind of government stuff. Seems sketchy." He explained.

"Is his about the Avengers Initiative?" She started to ask.

"How did you-- That was _you!"_ She just smiled innocently, getting that he meant the rustling sound.

"So, remember this while I'm away.

First, Josie Kirk. Nobody will know who you really are my daughter unless it's in a tight situation.

Second, Stay in this tower. Don't go anywhere.

Third, If something happens, use those gadgets of yours. Protect yourself. This is gonna be spoilers but if things gone down, JARVIS has your own Iron Man Jr. suit." He stated the rules.

"I have my own Iron Man suit!?" She almost choked on the blueberries.

"I- was gonna save it for your birthday next month _but_ , I'll loosen the surprise." He shrugged.

"Don't hack their database. I know that look in your face. JARVIS! Parental Lock while I'm gone." Hailey just put on an innocent face. Tony stared.

" _Yes, Mr. Stark."_ JARVIS responded.

"Okay! I wont!" She gave up. "I won't get it their radar if you yourself say they're sketchy." She sighed.

"Good. Now I have to go." She stood up and hugged him.

"Bad idea hugging the armour," She choked. "Good luck, dad. I have you on speed dial if you are so worried. And I have my card gun back in my bag." She convinced.

"Good," He patted her head.

"Bring some blueberries with you. They're delicious!"

 **oOoOoOoOo**

 ** _Helicarrier_**

"He made it personal."

"That's not the point," Steve objected.

"That is the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?" Tony started thinking of Loki's motives.

"To tear us apart," Steve answered unsurely.

"Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right?

That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it... He wants an audience," Tony concluded after a while.

"Right," Steve nodded. "I caught his act in Stuttgart,"

"That's just previews, this is--this is opening night and, Loki, he's a full-tilt diva, _right?_

He wants _flowers,_ he wants _parades,_ he wants a _monument built to the skies..."_ Tony rambled.

Steve just listened and nodded, urging him to go on.

" _Son of a bitch,"_

 **oOoOoOoOo**

"JARVIS, why is someone on top of the tower?" Hailey asked as she saw satellite images for the Stark Tower. She helped with a little bit of the design and wanted to see the tower overall. But her dad had her on Parent Lock.

 _"It seems that he's assembling a machine."_ The AI answered.

"Shut it down." She commanded.

 _"I can't. Mr. Stark has commanded me to shut down the arc reactor, but the machine is already running."_ JARVIS explained.

Hailey sighed.

"Get my suit ready. I'm going to get my gun. Where is it?" She asked the AI.

 _"Your card gun is on your desk, Miss Stark."_ JARVIS helped her navigate.

"Give me all of the information you have on everything that's happening to this bracelet," She motioned to her left hand.

She had put in JARVIS's database in there months ago, with the help of Tony.

 _"But Miss--"_ The AI objected.

"Override H-J-S 20. Reasons, _emergency._ I got the right to know." And the AI went to work.

She went to her room and hid her hoverboard. She opened her desk drawers and took out a box. Inside was a belt with hooks.

She took out another box, smaller, inside. It was full of a variety of mini-bombs. Just your usual chemical reaction fluid.

She strapped on the bomb to the belt that she's using.

 _"Incoming call from Mr. Stark."_ JARVIS informed.

"Hello?" She replied while searching for something underneath her bed.

 _"Whatever you do, **do not** go out of the tower. I'll be there in 5 minutes!" _ Tony's voice was heard.

"Ok," and the call ended.

"Get that suit ready, JARVIS." She commanded.

 _"EVE 01 will be ready in 15 minutes. Some alterations are being made."_

"He's not done with the suit yet,' she sighed.

She found the other box she was looking for. She opened it and took out a gun, with several ammunitions. Her Uncle Rhodey had taught her how to shoot, and with the basics learnt from Natalie, she got many praises from her family.

Rhodey got her a gun license to protect herself. He reasoned, _"Your dad is Iron Man. When he's not there, you need to protect yourself,"_ and she agreed.

She took the gun holder and strapped it to her belt. She went out of her room just to see a man with a green robe, holding a scepter.

"Who are you?" She asked with hostility.

"Loki, God of Mischief." He introduced himself while smirking evilly. He had an accent.

"Last time I've known, God doesn't dress like that." She motioned to his clothes. He was outside of the glass. He started his trek to her and she backed off.

She analysed his weapon. The scepter was glowing. Loki. Where had she heard of that name before?

"Tell me, do you seek the truth?" Loki started.

"Sorry, what?" She blanked.

"You are searching for answers. I can help you." He started to make an offer.

She didn't reply.

"Your mother," He began. Hailey panicked.

"You want to know how she died," He grinned.

"I want to, but what do you have to do with it?" She asked. She had always wanted to know why her mother died.

" _I,_ can help you." He came closer.

She threw a flash bomb. It blinds the eye of the person you throw it to. She closed her eyes.

Loki got blinded for a moment, and she ran to the other side of the room.

"Ah, ah ah. Not so fast." He pointed his scepter to her.

" _Shit,"_ she cursed. She held her arm high and turned around.

"Okay. _How_ can you help me?" She said tiredly.

"By helping you seek the truth!" with that, he pointed the scepter at her chest.

She gasped.


End file.
